Suspects face up to life in prison and $10 million fine

LONGMONT -- Federal investigators used wire tap warrants and an undercover agent who spent nearly $5,000 in single drug deals in Longmont during a joint investigation that Longmont police said dismantled a major methamphetamine, coke and heroin ring, according to a federal arrest warrant affidavit.

Longmont Police Detective Steve Schulz said last week that the arrests of seven suspects stemming from Operation Halfway House Hunters cut off the main supply of meth and major supplies of cocaine and heroin. The investigation launched in April 2012.

The affidavit details an undercover federal agent's meetings with Hilario Rodela, a Longmont man who was serving a halfway house sentence on earlier drug charges at the time he was running the drug distribution operation. During some of those meetings with Rodela or his associates, according to the affidavit, the undercover agent would pay thousands of dollars in a single transaction for methamphetamine, cocaine or heroin.

Sometimes a confidential informant working with federal agents would arrange the deals or act as an intermediary. The deals took place in Longmont and around the Denver metro area, at places that included Rodela's home, fast food restaurants or gas stations. According to the warrant, Rodela kept ounces of meth and cocaine at a time at his home at 10 Ninth AveA federal wire tap warrant allowed investigators to listen in on conversations arranging the deals.

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Schulz said last week that Rodela got methamphetamine from either George Pedroza, whose age was unavailable, of Aurora, or Martin Lopez, 31, of the Denver metro area, and heroin from Jorge Lugo-Lugo, 27, of north Denver to sell in Longmont. According to the affidavit, Lopez acquired cocaine from a California sources and moved kilos into Colorado at a time.

Schulz added that investigators believe Ranell Navarette, 33, ran the Longmont distribution while Rodela was in prison or the halfway house on an earlier drug case. Marc Brooks, 35, and Jesus Rodela, 41, are suspected of working as runners or low-level dealers in the operation.

Jesus Rodela and Navarette's arrests Friday allowed court document in the case to be unsealed. The other five were already in custody, according to police.

All seven men are suspected of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams of meth and 500 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of meth. According to court documents, the seven face between 10 years and life in prison if convicted, a $10 million fine, or both.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver is prosecuting the case, but the suspects' next dates of appearance were not immediately available.

Some local drug users who bought from the ring were also arrested and will be prosecuted in Boulder District Court, according to the Boulder County District Attorney's Office.

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